England have trimmed their original 15-man group by three players ahead of the first home Test against New Zealand at Lord\u2019s, with the match set to begin on Thursday, June 4. The side had initially announced a 15-member squad that featured Somerset batter James Rew, leg spinner Rehan Ahmed and Surrey seamer Matthew Fisher\u2014names now left out of the final selection.<\/p>\n
England squad:<\/b> Ben Stokes (C), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue.<\/p>\n
Two players without prior international Test experience have earned a spot in the last group of 12: Durham top-order batter Emilio Gay and Hampshire fast bowler Sonny Baker. Both could be in contention to make their debut at the famous venue. Gay\u2019s inclusion follows England\u2019s decision to part ways with opener Zak Crawley after a disappointing Ashes campaign.<\/p>\n
With attention also on the possibility of Baker\u2019s first Test outing, head coach Brendon McCullum offered strong praise for the quick. \u201cSonny Baker is quick. I believe he\u2019s going to be a cricketer that the entire country gets behind when he does play. He comes in hard and leaves everything out there. He\u2019s got full noise\u2014he\u2019s exciting. He swings the ball both ways and he\u2019s clearly capable of reaching around 90 miles per hour. It\u2019s an exciting option, and if his moment isn\u2019t in this Test, then his time will come. If it is in this Test, I\u2019d expect him to make a strong impact,\u201d McCullum said.<\/p>\n
England are also poised to bring Shoaib Bashir back into their XI. Bashir has not played a Test since the third match against India last July, which was also at Lord\u2019s, where he suffered a broken finger. He then spent time around the group during the Ashes 2025-26.<\/p>\n
McCullum expects Bashir to have a dual-use role in the opening days at Lord\u2019s. \u201cBash has the ability to likely take on more of a holding responsibility in the first couple of days here at Lord\u2019s,\u201d McCullum said. \u201cThen, as the game progresses\u2014and if spin becomes more influential\u2014he can shift further into an attacking role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jofra Archer will not be available for this Test due to his commitments in the IPL, while Brydon Carse is still recovering from a wrist injury. With those constraints in place, England have kept Ollie Robinson in the 12. Robinson last played a Test for England in February 2024.<\/p>\n
McCullum said he has kept his ultimate XI plans close to the vest, making his final decisions late and factoring in the weather. With showers forecast throughout the first Test, he indicated that England want the flexibility to react if conditions differ from what is expected. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of uncertainty around the conditions and the forecast over the next 48 hours,\u201d McCullum noted. \u201cWe have a solid understanding of what we believe our XI will be, but we also want the ability to pivot if needed, should the conditions turn out slightly different to what we anticipate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Within the XI, England have also opted for a change to batting positions between wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and captain Ben Stokes. Smith has been pushed up to No. 6, with Stokes moving down to No. 6. The 25-year-old Smith averages 44 in Tests from No. 6 and 38 from a lower batting slot, while Stokes has faced difficult stretches with the bat recently, scoring an average of just 18 during the latest Ashes.<\/p>\n
McCullum explained the logic behind the adjustment. \u201cWe think it\u2019s a good balance\u2014getting Jamie Smith more time batting alongside the specialist top order and the out-and-out batters. Then, if Stokesy ends up coming in with the tail, he has the experience, and he\u2019s batted in those positions frequently,\u201d McCullum said. \u201cIt\u2019s a small tactical tweak. We\u2019ll give it a go and see how it works out, but everyone is aligned with the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
England have trimmed their original 15-man group by three players ahead of the first home Test against New Zealand at Lord\u2019s, with the match set…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"England vs New Zealand: IPL News, Lord\u2019s Test Squad","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"England\u2019s Lord\u2019s Test squad vs New Zealand is set with two debuts as three players miss out\u2014full 12-man selection and key changes ahead of June 4.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n